The golf swing is a complex athletic movement that is difficult to master. Small errors in grip, set-up, alignment, swing path, swing plane, and tempo, among others may produce large errors in the flight of the ball. Players at all levels must continuously practice and develop good swing mechanics to excel at the game. Indeed, even professional players spend a large amount of time and money perfecting their swing mechanics to improve their skill.
The trajectory of the golf ball may be largely determined by the relative angle of the face of the golf club and the target line and by the swing path as the golf club approaches the ball. A shot that starts down the target line and curves slightly to the right is termed a “fade” (for right handed golfers). A shot that starts down the target line and curves dramatically to the right is termed a “slice” (for right handed golfers). A shot that starts down the target line and curves slightly to the left is termed a “draw” (for right handed golfers). A shot that starts down the target line and curves dramatically to the left is termed a “hook” (for right handed golfers). Many players assume that the goal of the perfect golf swing is to hit a straight shot, that is, the golf ball follows a path that is substantially directly down the target line. However, this is rarely the case. Even professional players have developed skills where they can “work” the ball. “Working” the ball means they can hit a fade or a draw at will to make the ball curve slightly right or left by altering their swing mechanics. It is often advantageous to have the ball approach the hole on a curved trajectory rather than a straight trajectory.
There are golf swing training aids that attempt to teach the student proper swing mechanics. These training aids may have one or more of the following disadvantages comprising high complexity, large size, cumbersome, not portable, high cost, requirement for electrical power, and the like. Many of these golf swing training aids do not have the ability to teach the student a variety of golf swing mechanics. They focus on teaching the student the proper swing to hit the golf ball substantially straight down the target line.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for an apparatus and methods to teach students the proper golf swing mechanics so that they can hit a variety of golf shots consistently and with high accuracy.